Munich
Author: Andis Sīlis
Choosing A45 that runs from the Munich centre to the airport a few seconds of pleasant amazement are guaranteed, as you dash past the new Munich football stadium. I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing a huge construction, resembling a spacecraft, a gigantic tire or a plastic cloud, for the first time - it was a truly surreal impression! Membrane shell of the building, made of tetrafluoroethylene bubbles, is a unique technological innovation, a result of a successful cooperation of architects and engineers. The façade, white in daytime, can feature an impressive play of colour at night, transparent as well as printed. Each of six meters wide rhomboidal foil panels are connected to an air compressor. It is one of the best Herzog & de Meuron projects - innovative and laconic, demonstrating perfect harmony of form and function, and finally - incredibly beautiful. It gives an ample reason for a bit of smugness on part of somewhat hoity-toity Bavarians, to say nothing of what goes on in there during a winning football match.
Another worth to see object in Munich is The Fünf Höfe or so called Five Courtyards, designed by one more star architectural team - Herzog & de Meuron. An enjoyable project, demonstrating that a function (an exchange of commodities, in this case) can be packed in a tasteful and ingenious form. It features numerous interesting details - look around and compare it in your mind with the monstrous Center Gallery in the Old City of Riga.
Very soon another "miraculous bubble" will be launched in Munich - a new BMW presentation centre. Its façade is finished already, while inner works are still taking place. The project has been designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au, architectural company with 15 years of fame and success on their professional balance. That was exactly their architectural concept - high-tech automobiles under a glass bubble, an extremely complicated engineering structure. By the way, now attempts are being made to engage the same company for constructional calculations and know-how for the new Riga concert hall.
Keywords: Munich, architecture
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